Social Media and Technology

Social Media and Technology

As I ponder the future of social media for this assignment, and think of how upcoming technology will affect our lives, I am very optimistic and excited. Google glass is especially exciting. The technology exists, now it is just a matter of time it will be integrated into our every day lives. How it links to social media is basically the same way it does now with our current devises, it will just be way cooler. Mohsin Ghafoor and Trinity Martin in their article Six Ways Social Media Technologies Can Accelerate Large-Scale Change. They lists a few key ways technology and social media will affect our lives in the future. First it will help us “build a collaborative culture.” Second, it is an effective way to “establish more effective two-way communication.” Third, it helps create more engaging learning experiences.” Fourth, sharing current practives thorugh a knowleddge network.” Fifth, Improving employee involvement and engagement.” Sixth, “assessing progress more regularly and effectively.”

With the increasingly surprising technology that is being produced, social media will be more accessible and integrative than ever. I can imagine a world where you can follow a person, just on twitter, but in real time at their exact location. I think this would be implemented with something like google earth. I can also see how it will be more integrative by people becoming more and more interested in personal avatars. This took off for a little while with the game “Second Life,” but I think it will have a resurgence as a new technology might come up that will make it more realistic, almost like a Matrix type thing.

Something else that I am very excited about is a concept called “Zero Intelligence.” This idea does not mean stupidity, it is a technological term used to imply that there is a “whole lot of intelligence in a tiny space.” This concept will be implemented as technology and the human body become more integrated. Terri Briseno in her article 10 Futurist Predictions in the World of Technology, states that “Computer brains (or chips) have diminished in size -- some powered by just five atoms, and one-atom developments about 10 to 20 years down the road.” Because of movies that have come out like Terminator and Irobot, this seems like a scary thing, but in all reality it will be such a huge help in solving many of the medical dilemmas of our time.

http://www.accenture.com/us-en/outlook/Pages/outlook-online-2012-social-media-technologies-accelerate-large-scale-change.aspx

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/future-tech/10-futurist-predictions-in-the-world-of-technology.htm#page=1

Viral Videos

Viral Videos

When it comes to my YouTube video selection, I always look to see how many views the video has. I believe this to be a good indicator of whether the video will be worth my time or not. The word “viral” has two very distinct meanings. According to dictionary.com, viral can mean “of, relating to, or caused by a virus.” This is very different from the other definition given, which is “pertaining to or involving the spreading of information and opinions about a product or service from person to person, especially on the Internet or in emails.” I personally believe that the second use of the word viral is more commonly used in the United States than the original meaning of the word. I guess you could say that the new meaning of “viral” went viral.

Now that we have cleared the air of what I mean when I say a “viral video,” lets look at what makes a video actually be considered viral. According to Meghan O’Neill, in her article titled ‘What Makes A Video “Viral”?’ she outlines a few specific requirements. First is viewership. If a video is viewed “5 million times within a 3-7 day period, it is considered viral.” The next requirement is the video has to have a lot of “buzz.” This means that it has to “be the talk of the town.” It can’t just have a ton of views, it also has to be talked about a lot and shared through various social media sites by thousands. Here are a few examples of viral videos that have millions of views, and have a lot of buzz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI

The two videos above are classic examples of “viral videos” each have been viewed and shared millions of times. They have even been remixed, auto tuned, parodied, and copied to extend their reach and relevancy.

Sources:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/viral

http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/what-makes-a-video-viral/62414

The Arab Spring

When it comes to the political, economic, and social impacts of social media, the example of Arab Spring always comes to my mind. For generations, the world had undergone many shifts in power and stability. Just about every region in the world except The Arab Islands had experienced revolt, revolution, and stability of government. In 2011, that all changed. Thanks to the viral spreading of positive change through social media, lasting change has been able to start in the Arab Spring. An advocate of change and a key player in the uprising of the Egyptian people against their president Mubarak put it this way,  “We use Facebook to schedule the protests, Twitter to coordinate, and YouTube to tell the world.” 

Never in the history of the world has such a quick uprising and gathering taken place. In fact, “After analyzing more than 3 million tweets, gigabytes of YouTube content and thousands of blog posts, a new study finds that social media played a central role in shaping political debates in the Arab Spring.” The topic of freedom and democracy went viral in the Middle East and north Africa which definitely played an integral role in the up rise of political change in those regions. 

The evidence of the impact of social media on the arab spring is in the numbers. According to Washington.edu’s article New study quantifies use of social media in Arab Spring, “During the week before Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s resignation, for example, the total rate of tweets from Egypt — and around the world — about political change in that country ballooned from 2,300 a day to 230,000 a day.  Videos featuring protest and political commentary went viral – the top 23 videos received nearly 5.5 million views.” 

It is very evident that due to social media, political change was able to occur. The great thing about social media as a medium for social change is it is very difficult for struggling governments to control. For example, the topics of freedom, democracy, liberty, and revolution were trending topics in neighboring countries of Egypt within hrs after the resignation of the president. 

Philip Howard, the project lead and an associate professor in communication at the University of Washington put it this way; “people throughout the region were drawn into an extended conversation about social uprising. The success of demands for political change in Egypt and Tunisia led individuals in other countries to pick up the conversation. It helped create discussion across the region.”

Howard said that although social media did not cause the upheaval in North Africa, they altered the capacity of citizens to affect domestic politics.  Online activists created a virtual ecology of civil society, debating contentious issues that could not be discussed in public.” The funny thing is, when the government tries to crack down on social media and be more controlling in the sharing and spreading of sensitive topics, it leads to more of an upheaval and revolt in those regions. Egypt very successful with the viral spreading of information concerning gatherings and protests because 70% of the population in the Cairo uses social media. The surrounding countries in the arab island only have an average of 10% of the population using social media. It would be interesting to see how the spread of social media in those countries would affect their rate of democratic change. 

It is evident that in countries such as the USA where just about everyone is constantly on social media, viral topics such as Treyvon Martin, Michael Brown, and others are able to penetrate every home in the country within hrs of the incident happening. We can also see the international impact concerning recruiting through social media certain terrorist organizations have. For example, ISIS is using social media every day to try to bring in new recruits by tweeting, posting videos, blogging, and using Facebook. 

I personally believe that if many of these terrorist ridden countries utilized social media they would be more successful at stamping out these terrorist groups. They would be able to show their people a positive path to change and not only an extreme path. I guess after contemplating the positive and negative affects of social media, I have come to the conclusion that if more positive people are actively utilizing the various channels available to them, our world would become a safer and better place for everyone.

http://www.washington.edu/news/2011/09/12/new-study-quantifies-use-of-social-media-in-arab-spring/

http://pitpi.org/?p=1051

http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/what-the-arab-spring-tells-us-about-the-future-of-social-media-in-revolutionary-movements

Social Media Management

Social Media Management

When I think of social media management, there are a few apps that come to mind. Specifically HootSuite and Buffer. HootSuite is the most popular social media management tool. It helps the user manage multiple social media sites at the same time. It offers a free version or you can upgrade for a small fee. Buffer does the same thing but in a little different way. Buffer also provides analytics about the engagement and reach of your posts. In an article written by Daniel Zeevi titled Social Media Management, he outlines the main differences between the two platforms.  He says “Hootsuite provides a more complete solution that allows you to schedule updates and monitor conversations, whereas Buffer isn’t a dashboard that shows you other people’s content. However, Bufferapp has superior scheduling flexibility over Hootsuite because you can designate very specific scheduling times and change patterns throughout the week. Hootsuite recently introduced an autoschedule feature that automatically designates a scheduling time based on a projected best time to post. This can be effective to use, but doesn’t have the same flexibility as Buffer since you don’t really know when a post will be scheduled till after doing so.” Buffer is better for some users while HootSuite is better for others. If you want an app that will help you become a better “listener” on social media then HootSuite is right for you. If you want to more easily manage scheduling then Buffer is right for you.

If you are a company and are looking to more easily connect with social media and use a streamlined management tool, Jess Ostroff’s article titled Management Tools For Small Business is a great place to start looking. She outlines, “it’s important to make sure you’ve identified why you want to use a management or monitoring platform and what you hope to gain out of it. Using a social media management platform is a commitment and an investment in terms of both your time and your bank account, so picking the right one the first time is ideal.” She goes on to list accomplishments you might want to achieve in your small business and how the use of a social media management tool might help you get there.

http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-tools/favorite-social-media-management-tools-for-small-business/

https://blog.dashburst.com/best-social-media-management-tools/